Chapter 41: 41

After kissing her, Qin Juran smoothly rubbed her lip and walked confidently out into the testing course. Meanwhile, Ruan Nan slapped herself internally – sympathizing with this vixen was never a good idea.

As the soft sensation of her lips rushed back into her mind, Ruan Nan couldn’t help blushing thinking about that embarrassingly loud “Mwah” sound.

But maybe it wasn’t that bad.

She walked into the monitoring room, where Ruan Longteng was staring steadily at the surveillance screen. Usually, there were two instructors nearby on the site of the test, but for Qin Juran, they had increased the number to five; they were clearly worried that yesterday’s events would cause some physiological stress.

During the test, whether it was reversing the car into a garage, parallel parking, or making a K-turn, Qin Juran maintained a steady pace and completed all the tasks easily without a single hitch.

While she was driving to the finish line, the monitor showed a close-up of Qin Juran’s face. After signing the documents that the instructor handed her, Qin Juran looked straight into the surveillance camera inside the car, placed two fingers on her lips, and with a smirk, blew a kiss right into the camera.

Ruan Nan, who had been diligently staring at the screen the entire time, stumbled back with a startle. Ruan Longteng even let out a breathy laugh: “Nannan, this friend of yours sure is interesting. I’ll bet her studies are also really good, huh?”

“She’s the top student in our department.”

“Good for her. Since she first began taking lessons, I always felt that she was pretty outstanding. She learned everything very quickly and was even able to react so quick-wittingly in such an emergency like yesterday. There’s something about her temperament that makes her seem older than other people at your age.”

“Nannan, it looks like you two have a pretty close relationship? Good friends?”

Ruan Nan nodded: “Yes, we’re very good…friends.”

“Very nice. I’m sure you can learn a lot from people like her.”

What had she learned from Qin Juran…? The more Ruan Nan thought about it, all she could come up with amounted to how to solve a few math problems as well as various obscenities.

“Here, try some of Uncle’s freshly brewed Taiping Houkui.” 1 After Ruan Longteng poured a cup of tea for his niece, he pulled up his suit pants and asked jokingly, “I didn’t get a chance to ask you yesterday – are you dating anyone?”

Ruan Nan froze. “No, I’m not.”

“I see.” Ruan Longteng pulled out a stack of business cards from his bag and began flipping through:

“I was just dining with the vice-chairman of Yu Hua Group the other night; their family’s youngest son is around the same age as you, studying abroad in Canada. I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea – I also spoke to your father about it, and he thinks the Yu Hua Group would be a good match for your family as well. But it’s up to you whether you’re interested or not.”

After saying this, Ruan Longteng pulled out a business card and held it out to Ruan Nan.

“Take this, President Chen’s son’s WeChat ID is written on the back. If you want to get to know each other first, just add him on WeChat first…”

“I’m not interested.” Ruan Nan refused plainly, without even looking at the card.

Ruan Longteng hesitated: “Not interested? Can Uncle ask why?”

Ruan Nan seemed to be in an uncomfortable position: “Because I…”

“Because she already has someone she likes.” Before either of them realized it, Qin Juran was already standing in the doorway, looking especially tall and lithe with her trench coat draped over her pencil skirt.

Ruan Longteng frowned deeply, turning to ask Ruan Nan: “Really?”

Avoiding Qin Juran’s gaze, Ruan Nan gently placed her teacup down and answered softly: “Really.”

Ruan Longteng turned back to Qin Juran: “Juran, you know about it? Which chairman’s son is it? What kind of person is he?”

Qin Juran let out a laugh and pretended to think for a moment. “They’re a pretty outstanding person; someone who could be considered a small business owner from starting their own MCN business. Five years older than Nannan, and also an S University graduate.”

“Wow, starting his own business, that’s quite amazing! There aren’t many young people these days who have the capacity to become entrepreneurs. But Nannan said earlier that she wasn’t dating anyone, so they’re not together yet? He doesn’t appreciate our Nannan?”

Qin Juran chuckled: “How could that be? Uncle, girls are always rather shy, so there’s a whole process to go through before becoming official – gotta take it slow. Wouldn’t you say so, Ah-Ruan?”

Qin Juran smiled mischievously at Ruan Nan, whose face grew increasingly bright. She didn’t bother trying to explain the truth to her Uncle and merely nodded in agreement.

Ruan Longteng scratched at his neck: “Well, alright then. Juran, you’re a smart girl. Look out for Nannan, make sure that he doesn’t hurt her.”

He stood up as he spoke, meaning to leave the two of them alone. Meanwhile, Qin Juran’s smile only grew as she walked to Ruan Nan’s side. Looping her arm around Ruan Nan’s, she turned to Ruan Longteng and replied, “Hurt her?”

She leaned closer into Ruan Nan, then continued in an ambiguous tone of voice: “More like wrap her in my palm and keep her to myself.”

After the two girls left the driving school and got into the car, Ruan Nan asked Qin Juran, “Who was the person you were talking about just then? I don’t know any young CEOs who started their own business.”

Qin Juran buckled her seat belt, smirking, “You’ll meet them soon.”

“…..”

“Going back to campus?” Ruan Nan asked. They had spent a good chunk of time at the driving school, and it was already approaching noon.

“Do you have any plans?”

Ruan Nan paused for a moment: “I’m going out for a celebratory dinner with Zhou Ziqing and the others tonight—to celebrate me getting a 70 on the exam.” At this moment, Ruan Nan seemed to set her resolve, asking tentatively: “Want to go together?”

Unlike her previous refusal, Qin Juran was very eager this time. She immediately agreed, then corrected Ruan Nan: “But if I’m there, then it wouldn’t be a celebratory dinner for you.”

“It’d be a dinner in honor of the teacher.”

“…..”

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In this season, dinner usually wasn’t eaten too late, although the driving school was quite a ways off from the dormitory. Ruan Nan asked, “Want to grab lunch?”

“Sure.” Qin Juran agreed without even thinking.

“Want do you want to eat?”

“Anything.”

Ruan Nan didn’t say anything more. Since she often ate out, she had a solid idea of which food places around town were good. She pondered for a moment, then settled on a Japanese cuisine restaurant. The restaurant had good food at an affordable price, so it wouldn’t be too much of a burden on Qin Juran.

Once they came to a stop at their destination, Ruan Nan glanced at Qin Juran from her rearview mirror, pursing her lips: “How come you agreed so enthusiastically today?”

Qin Juran leaned back into the passenger seats, legs folded over each other, displaying the solemn, elegant expression of an empress: “What – the person who likes me invited me to lunch. Why would I refuse?”

When Ruan Nan realized that she had said “the person who likes me” rather than “the person who I like,” she took off her sunglasses and raised her brows, asking, “Who likes you?”

Qin Juran looked as if she heard something bizarre. Although she’d been moving to open the car door, she suddenly sat back, resting her elbow in the space between the two of them. She leaned closer to Ruan Nan, a curious expression on her face: “Well, if you didn’t like me, then why’d you kiss me on the lips last night?”

“You!”

Ruan Nan seemed to realize that Qin Juran was the first person she knew to describe it as a “kiss on the lips,” which only made her all the more flustered.

The two girls entered the Japanese restaurant. Qin Juran ordered a simple plate of sushi and tonkotsu ramen, while Ruan Nan ordered two plates of sashimi and some side dishes. This restaurant had a nice atmosphere, with the same elegant and refined feel of an authentic Japanese restaurant.

After Qin Juran came back from washing her hands, she asked, “Ah-Ruan, I saw some kittens over there. Why don’t we go sit there?” She pointed to a table by the corner of the room.

Ruan Nan turned towards the far side of the room to see a silver British short-tail in the corner. Her eyes filled with a sweet, adolescent tenderness, but she finally turned back and spoke regretfully, “I’m allergic to animal hair.”

“So you can’t own a cat yourself?” Qin Juran suddenly understood why Ruan Nan never adopted a cat, despite loving them so much and living alone.

Ruan Nan turned back to look at the kitten, a pensive look on her face. When she turned around again, she nodded her head somewhat dejectedly: “It seems that it’s always hard for me to get close to the things I like.”

Qin Juran didn’t prod her further, and thankfully, the waiter came over at that moment with their dishes. Qin Juran spoke while preparing the sauces, “Do you like wasabi?”

Ruan Nan shook her head.

“Do you like black vinegar?” 2

Ruan Nan nodded.

Qin Juran nodded with a smirk. “Noted.”

“……”

The entire lunch was a pleasant experience. In addition to the refined ambiance and interior design, all the customers who came were respectful, not smoking inside or being overly noisy. Throughout the meal, they continued to discuss their plans for winter vacation. Ruan Nan knew about how the Finance department always offered the top three students to study abroad and asked Qin Juran whether she was planning to take up the offer.

Truthfully, Qin Juran felt quite excited when the counselor first told her about this, but she wavered when she went back home and saw how hard-pressed her family was for money. There was also Qin Haotian – Qin Juran had noticed how often he coughed and broke into a sweat, and suspected that his health wasn’t very good.

So at this point, she was leaning towards not going, although there was still a whole semester left to weigh the pros and cons.

Moreover, from now on, Ruan Nan was also playing a definite part in tipping the scales.

It was nearly 2 p.m. by the time they finished eating. Since this restaurant was further from their campus, Qin Juran asked Ruan Nan whether there was anything she wanted to do. However, Ruan Nan replied that asides from shopping and watching movies, there was nothing particularly exciting.

Qin Juran pulled out her phone to search for movies and Ruan Nan did the same, though it seemed that there wasn’t anything good playing recently. As Ruan Nan scrolled, she furrowed her brows: “Let’s go see A Different Lover.”

“What’s it about?” Qin Juran twisted open her water bottle while leaning closer to read the description.

Ruan Nan read aloud from her screen:

""

“A young woman from the 21st century, by some unforeseen chance, finds herself reincarnated as the daughter from a rich family in an alternate world, thus sprung into a new life full of ups and downs. What kinds of flames will spark as she faces her former foes anew, as well as new lovers?”

Qin Juran nearly spat out her water as she listened. She quickly waved her hand: “It sounds like a trashy movie just from the description, let’s not.”

Ruan Nan stared at Qin Juran, her eyes opened wide, and leaned closer: “I think it sounds pretty fascinating. One person becoming another by some supernatural cause, turning into someone completely unrecognizable from her former self – wouldn’t that be interesting?”

As Ruan Nan tapped her phone to purchase tickets, Qin Juran quickly pointed at the screen: “Look at the poster – it’s so dark and red, it must be a horror movie. You’re not scared of horror movies, Ah-Ruan?”

The hand grasping the phone instinctively trembled a little.

But two seconds later, Ruan Nan steadied herself, replying resolutely, “I’m not scared.”

“You might not be scared, but I am.” Qin Juran tightened the cap on the water bottle.

“What are you so scared of?” Ruan Nan couldn’t imagine Qin Juran being scared of anything.

Sure enough, Qin Juran only smiled mischievously. As the warm autumn sun shone upon her face, she lazily stretched her body in a smooth movement so that her chin rested upon Ruan Nan’s right shoulder:

“I’m scared that when the time comes, you’ll be so frightened that you take the opportunity in the dark theatre to kiss me~”

Footnotes

A type of tea with really large strips of leaves Qin Juran uses the phrase 吃醋, which literally means to ‘drink black vinegar,’ but is also the term for ‘feeling jealous.’ So her question could be interpreted as both “Do you like black vinegar?” or “Do you like feeling jealous?” 

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